Stu Helm’s Eat of the Week: Not Saying No to Chicken

Every week or so, I pick just one piece of food, or one dish, or even one type of food that I ate and thoroughly enjoyed during my many adventures throughout Asheville’s amazing food scene (and beyond!), and I bestow upon it the high honor of being my official “Eat of the Week.” Anything from a block of cheese, to some doo-doo-shaped ice cream, to “fancy vegetables” might be featured as my Eat of the Week! Look for it exclusively here on Stu Helm: Food Fan!

EAT OF THE WEEK:Well, I Certainly Don’t NOT Want to Add Chicken

”DO YOU WANNA ADD CHICKEN?” Asked the person behind the counter at 67 Biltmore Ave Downtown Eatery and Catering the other day when I was there for my usual breakfast of the 67 Biscuit ‘n’ Gravy.

Hmmm… let’s see now, do I wanna add chicken? Um… hehhhlllll yehhhs I wanna add chicken!!! I mean, why wouldn’t I want to add chicken? Who doesn’t want to add chicken?!? I mean Vegans, of course, but who specifically living inside of my body doesn’t almost always want to add chicken to almost everything? “Yes, please, I’d like to add chicken.”

That’s pretty much how the conversation went down — both out loud and in my head — and boy am I glad I added that piece of chicken to my “Best of Asheville” 2017 Stoobie award winning breakfast, which is one of my all-time favorite things to eat in downtown! I usually add an egg on top, which is great, but holy moly, adding a piece of fried chicken is like turning all the knobs on this dish up to 11.

A warm, scratch made, perfectly baked “67” biscuit, topped with super-savory sausage gravy, and fresh chopped herbs is one of the most comforting and delicious things you’ll ever eat. Add a deep-fried buttermilk battered chicken breast, and good lord! Every bite was pure heaven to me. This was one of those times when I would have licked the bowl, if it wasn’t for, y’know, society.

The small side of fruit that comes with this breakfast offering is always a very welcome addition, a good palate cleanser, and a light, healthy antidote to an otherwise carb-and-protein-heavy plate.

I highly recommend the 67 Biscuits ‘n’ Gravy, and when they ask you if you wanna add chicken, SAY YES. Hopefully you will love it as much as I did, and you can tell all your friends that it is your…

Stu Helm is an artist, writer, and podcaster living in Asheville, NC, and a frequent diner at local restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and the like. His tastes run from hot dogs and mac ‘n’ cheese, to haute cuisine, and his opinions are based on a lifetime of eating out. He began writing about food strictly to amuse his friends on Facebook.